Happily Ever After?
by 0Resist0
Summary: Can Noah Mayer make that one magical night turn into reality? And is it really too late to try to find his own happily ever after all, despite his own beliefs? When the love of his life, as no memory of their night together.
1. The Falling Star And A Wish

Once upon a time, there lived a girl. She was as beautiful as a fairy but as poor as a church mouse. She lived in a varied misery but one day, things changed totally for her and destiny carried her at the door of a huge castle that belonged to a wealthy king in a neighborhood kingdom. The king had a son who was distinctly handsome and when the two people came face to face, the cupid came and create the spell of love between them. Both the souls found their mates and soon exchanged vows to live …

"Happily ever after" finished the young and dashing personality in the huge room. He was pre-occupied in his own work as his colleague prompted him the beautiful story. "Crap!" he muttered under his breath while he sewed the extra button into the shirt that was now put on the male mannequin. It was a perfect fit and the chiseled curves of the body were seen through the expensive fabric.

"Excusez moi?" cried the petite girl. She held an open book in her hands which she shut aggressively, to express her displeasure at her friend's opinion.

"You heard that right." He said, his tone affected because he had his teeth clenched for holding a needle between them as he fixed the other button at the proper place. After he was sure that it was in the right place, he freed the needle and continued his elaboration, "It's all crap. I mean …" he turned swiftly facing her, "This never happens in real life. Falling in love, living happily ever after … Pfft! Are you kidding me?" His head wobbled while he laughed and turned again back to his work.

The girl set the book beside her on the table she sat and jumped off it. Her lips pouted and she shrugged. "You never know, Noah. I always like to think that I am going to find my Mr. Right soon; I will fall in love with him and we WILL live happily ever after." Her animated mannerism would have signified even a stupid person that she had total believe in love.

As she stood behind Noah, she would seem to be a dwarf in front of the brunette standing 6ft tall there. The broad shoulders rose and fell as a noisy sigh was heard. Noah turned to her and coherently stated, "This all is fictional shit Maddie."

"Nope!" Maddie smiled, "Love is in the air Noah. You just need to feel it and believe in it. A little effort you make to find it … and there you'd be, standing in front of YOUR Mr. Right!"

"Yeah Right" Sarcasm was prominent in Noah's voice that made Maddie frown at him when he turned away.

"I don't understand you sometimes."

"You don't need to, you know."

"Bitch!" she sulked.

"Oh you finally recognized me." Noah chuckled and that made Maddie giggle, too.

"Whatever, I am outta here. But remember this; one day, you will say it yourself that Love is the most beautiful thing in the world."

"Dream on!"

Maddie shook her head, "BYE!" she said forcefully, "You better go home soon too. It's very late already."

"Yup." Noah hugged her briefly. "I am almost done. See you tomorrow."

Noah unlocked the front door, shaking his head as the conversation with Maddie and her dreams about 'happily ever after' came back to him. It had been numerous times that she had tried to fix him up with a guy.

What he didn't get was after all those bad relationships she had, Maddie was the last one Noah thought would believe in something as stupid as the words 'happily ever after'. He had seen her getting her heart broken, time after time; saw how she swore never to let a man back into her heart, and yet she was still longing and hoping for the right guy to come along?

The apartment came to glow in a dim light as Noah walked through the empty house until he came to his home office.

He found himself standing in front of the only mannequin in his office. The one that had a casual, though very exclusive outfit from his collections. The dresses that the show-stoppers of his every show would be showing off the glam in those clothes, would be first tried on by this mannequin. It was indeed very special for Noah since it had come along with him through his hard journey to success. From just an assistant to some designer to a celebrity fashion designer, Noah owed his success to that mannequin. Maybe it was just his belief but he had an attachment to it. He would talk to it for hours long, pour his heart out because it helped him. Someone with no family desperately searches for somebody whom he can proudly call his! And Noah found that somebody in the mannequin.

This time, it was his loveless life that was bugging him, thanks to Maddie and he needed to talk it out.

"Maybe it's just girl thing…" he talked as he began to adjust the dress on the mannequin. "To keep on hoping and dreaming for Mr. Right …"

Noah sighed as he shrugged his jacket off. "I know it's not." He murmured low to himself.

He ignored the stack of letters on the desk that he knew Marie his housekeeper had set neatly at the side, and sat on the chair. Those were just letters of admirations regarding his work; none of them came out of ever near love and affection to him.

"How come half of the guys I've dated only sees the designer in me, and not just … me?" Noah wondered quietly as he rested his head back at backrest of the chair and closed his eyes.

Noah Mayer had everything; money, status, popularity … each and everything that would help him lead an easy and a ravishing life. "… and yet I am not happy?" He talked in a voice just above the whisper. One could have easily caught the hardness in his voice and know that was about to break down. "The only thing that's missing in my life is someone to share it all with. I have everything excect love. I want to live in love … just once. I too want my story to end up happily ever after." He swallowed down the lump and continued, "But I guess, there isn't anything like happily ever after in real life. It's probable that someone has made it up…" A tear rolled out from beneath his closed eyelids and he stayed still for a moment.

He stood up from the chair and walked towards the balcony deciding to enjoy the sight out there. It was different in New York than he was accustomed to. But the view he had from his balcony brought a feeling of home. And that beautifulness, the same elegancy of the city was so powerful that even the ugliest thing could turn into a masterpiece. So to say, that had been his actual goal when he first entered the fashion world a couple of years ago, and here he was now at his height of achievement.

He was complete and yet so incomplete without love. "Why?"

"That's because you're afraid of getting your heart broken Noah." A voice came from behind him.

Noah jumped around and stumbled as he tried to regain his balance and slow down his racing heart.

"Maddie?" Noah gasped as he stared at her. "How the hell did you get here?" He was taken aback by her presence in his lonely apartment.

"I'm not Maddie." She simply replied in a soft voice.

"You are not Maddie?" Noah looked perplexed at her, "You sure look like her. Oh wait! Is that you, Eve? But hey…" He paused as he recollected his memory, "… as far as I knew, she's locked up in jail, far away from here."

"I'm not her either"

Noah raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Th-Then who are you?" he asked in a stutter.

"A Cupid!", the Maddie-alike replied with a huge grin. She had an unusual glow on her face, a very heavenly beautiful one.

Noah was stunned for a minute. But he regained himself soon enough and being not able to believe the woman in front of him he blurted out, "Yeah … right".

"Huh? You do know who Cupid is right?" Her smile began to fade away as a worried look slowly began to creep up her features.

"Mmm yes… but aren't you, a cupid as you claim to be…" He chuckled, "supposed to be a guy with wings and a bow and quiver of arrows?"

"Well" The smile on the beautiful girl's face was back once again. "I just thought you would prefer me like this but since you don't …"

Noah backed away from her at safe distance as a weird, abnormal thing happened and his jaw dropped seeing it. Her hands moved in a perfect rhythm doing a little spin as she enchanted a spell, "coz Noah wants to see, show him the real me." And with that, her hair and dress twirled along her body changing her into a sparkling fairy like creature and a pair of wings popped out getting neatly folded against her back.

"So?" The cupid grinned.

"uhhhh" Noah was dumb-founded but still couldn't believe it. "Um … the bow and arrow?"

She rolled her eyes, "Fine!" and once again she spun her finger while enchanting her spell, "Come Come, I am incomplete, oh my bow and arrow I wouldn't fleet."

"WOW!" was all Noah could blurt, when a bow and an arrow was in her hands at the blink of an eye. "But, why are you here?"

Noah wanted to know, but she just smiled and turned away from him, watching the view of a late-night New-York.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"What?" Noah asked confused. He had enough trying to grasp the fact that someone like Maddie was in front of him, dressed as Cupid and claiming to be one while doing unbelievable stunts that were out of this world.

"The sky… It's just so beautiful here."

"Yes it is" Noah nodded in agreement but with a troubled forehead.

"Legend has it Noah that wishing upon a shooting star makes the wish come true. If it's really true love you seek Noah Mayer, then we will meet again, as another star will fall… tonight!" and with that she vanished as quiet as she had come … as if she was just an air around him and was blown away without anyone knowing it where it went.

"Never give up on love", Noah thought he heard her whisper, but there was no one there to answer to, only the stars shining down on him.

Noah's eyelids blinked as he came around. His eyes still felt heavy but he rubbed them to remove the haziness in front of his sight. Looking around the room he tried to figure out what happened. And that's when he realized it.

He had fallen asleep in his chair while deep in thoughts. He had a great laugh on how funny it was that he dreamt something like that. 'I guess the desperation to find my love has gotten so much into me that it's creating nightmares.' He thought and cracked up again. 'Cupid? Right!'

Noah was in stitches when all of a sudden he stopped laughing and he replayed in his mind what the girl had said to him.

"_Legend has it Noah that wishing upon a shooting star makes the wish come true. If it's really true love you seek Noah Mayer, then we will meet again, as another star will fall… tonight!"_

He wouldn't believe but a hope in his heart wanted to believe in it. He was struggling with his contradictory thoughts and before he knew it, he was standing by the railings on the balcony scanning the night sky; staring at it very intently.

Being alone, in the middle of nowhere, was thought provoking. He took his time reflecting on where he was in life, what he was proud of and what he wanted to be different, who he was now and who he had been a few years ago… on almost everything about his life.

A long time passed by before he caught a sight of a sparkling beauty traveling along the sky in an exact line. It was a single shooting star, high up in the purple-black sky looking oh-so beautiful! At first he barely saw it, but was in awe when he got its full view. There was no way he could even try to contemplate the wonders and workings of the universe without losing his mind.

Once again, his conscience wouldn't let him win over what his heart said. But … this was his chance if it was true and it wouldn't actually hurt to give it a try, was what he thought.

It was now or never! And he closed his eyes slowly as his heart said what it wanted through words coming out of his mouth …

"I want to feel what it is to love. I want to find my happily ever after"


	2. Sealed With A Kiss

The morning sun was casting its glow over Noah Mayer's bedroom, making it look almost magical, lighting up the usually dark bedroom. That was the first thing Noah noticed when he opened his eyes and embraced the day. The second thing he noticed was that something or rather someone was curled up against him. Peeking down, Noah's gaze met a stack of long blond hair, its strands covering the face of the most beautiful man he had ever seen, and his head was resting against his chest. He moved around in the bed, as he tried to untangle himself from the warmth without waking the man who was sleeping peacefully in his bed. It didn't really help that both of them were only sleeping in boxers.

"How in the hell did I end up here anyways?" he muttered as he had successfully gotten out of his bed. He watched the messed up bed and the most gorgeous person curled up in it. And the room smelling like sex was giving a bad hint. With his one hand on his hip and the other scratching his head, he tried recalling the events of last night but in vain.

He was sure he hadn't gone anywhere the last night, not to any bar at least that he could have gotten drunk so much so that he wouldn't remember picking up a random guy for sex.

'But then …'

A low giggle fell on his ears interrupting his thoughts. He looked at the blond in his room but he was fast asleep, not making a single sound. The giggle repeated again and this time he could tell it came from outside the bedroom, maybe from the living room of his apartment. With one last look on his bed, he walked out of the room and opened the door only to find his best friend standing in front of him.

"You have some explaining to do Missy" Noah said in a hushed tone as he closed the door to bedroom. "Like why there is a strange man in my bedroom, for the starters" He crossed his arms and glared at her.

"You don't remember anything from last night? Me? The cupid? a falling start and you wishing and wanting a happily ever after?"

Noah shook his head as he stared at her. "Hang on, Hang on!" Fragment from the "dream", as he thought he had last night suddenly came back to him but something felt missing. "But you had wings and a bow" He pointed at her. "Oh and an arrow too! Where's all that?"

"Honestly, those wings are so heavy and since I'm not going anywhere soon, I don't really need them. They don't exactly… blend in…" She shrugged.

"Right…" Noah was still not sure about it.

"Honestly! What am I going to do with you?" Maddie said as she tried to hide a smile as she looked at him under her eyelashes. "For your information, that gorgeous man who's sleeping in your bed is Luke, your new found love for a day!"

"How did he get in here?"

"You really don't remember anything do you?" She gazed at him, but the smile was still there brightening her face. "But not to worry, we'll fix it in a jiff."

"Fix what?"

But Noah didn't get a reply, instead what he did get was a smack in the head, with what he could only describe as some kind of heart form wand that had appeared in her hand out of no where so quickly, but that hurt!

"Évoquer!" The cupid said aloud and with that spell everything started playing back in Noah's mind…

___Noah was still gazing up towards the sky, still wishing silently that the Cupid would show up, just like she had promised that she would, if this was what he truly desired to feel. And he was sure it was his passion to find his true love.___

_He wasn't sure how long he stood there, but he wasn't going to leave, not until she showed up, but as time passed by, his hopes downed at every second. 'After all, it was just a dream. I can't be true! What am I thinking?'___

_Finally, having his head lowered, Noah walked back inside his office. Now, he was convinced that not even a supernatural thing existed in this living world that would get Noah find his true love. It was his fate, he guessed, that he was gifted a loveless life and nobody could do anything about it; neither Maddie, nor any cupid.___

_"Well a cupid can do anything!" a challenging voice made Noah look up and his eyes looked in awe at the shining and elegant looking girl that looked familiar from the dream he had.___

_"This is not true is it?" He gasped, "I am dreaming again, I guess."___

_"No you are not!" The Maddie look-alike said with a beaming grin. But, soon that smile was gone and she seriously sighted Noah asking him in a wary tone, "Are you sure that this is what you want?"___

_Noah feared the look that he was getting but nodded anyways, "Yes"___

_She looked at him for a moment, trying to read those blue eyes to see if there was any doubt like it had been with so many others she had dealt with. But Noah's eyes showed longing more than any qualms in his mind. However, cupid wasn't about to risk seeing another wish for true love end up badly once again. So she thought it was necessary to warn, "Think about it carefully Noah … because after this there is no turning back. I can show you a glint of true love, let you meet the person you're destined to be with, but that's all. It's up to you what happens after the time runs out." She warned, but her voice remained soft as she talked, as soothing as ever.___

_"Runs out? What do you mean by time runs out?" Noah asked, and anyone could tell that he was utterly freaked out by that.___

_"I'm giving you the opportunity to find your true love, a moment of bliss and feel of affection for. But it's you who have to create your ending; I cannot give it to you, only show you the path to it."___

_"I want this" he said aggressively, much more with desperation.___

_She smiled and nodded. "Let's begin then, shall we?"___

_Noah swallowed nervously but managed to bob his head in approval.___

_"Alright, here you go!" She positioned herself to start putting up the spell, "Greet when you meet, kiss with your lips, and let the love in your heart blossom in the bliss."___

_Noah could see the sparks flying out of the magical arrow as the cupid spun it in the tempo as she spelled. He expected that his true love would appear in the room all of a sudden and the thought itself made his heart skip a beat.___

_However, nothing like that happened. Instead, she adjusted the magical arrow into the bow as it glowed in her hands and aimed up towards the ceiling. Noah couldn't understand what she was up to, but silently watched her amusing actions.___

_The cupid closed her eyes and let the arrow fly into the air. It flew everywhere around the room, bumping into everything, and finally hit the only mannequin in the room. He looked between the arrow, that had ended up cracking into the mannequin's butt part, and the cupid; trying to figure out what the hell was going on.___

_The cupid knew that Noah was confused, so she went on to explain him, "So... Basically, what you need to do is wake him up to life by kissing him."___

_"What?"___

_"Did you not understand what I said or are you shocked?" She asked naively.___

_"I am shocked obviously." Noah said and looked back at the lifeless mannequin again. "You gotta be kidding me. How can I kiss a statue?" He frowned at the cupid.___

_"You don't believe me?" She raised her eyebrows, expecting that Noah did believe in her powers.___

_"I do! But it's just so insane!"___

_"Nothing is insane in love and war." She shrugged.___

_"Everything is fair in love and war!"___

_"Yeah!"___

_"No I mean, that's the correct phrase. 'Everything is fair in love and war'" He made air quotes as he said it.___

_"Oh… whatever, I am a cupid. Don't expect me to know the correct phrase. It's already enough that I have millions of spells to keep in my mind." She rolled her eyes "But the point is, you have to do it after all if you want it. You have to believe in me when I say something even if that sounds insane to you."___

_Noah glanced back at her but by this point. He wasn't really surprised with what she was telling him to do anymore. The idea of his best friend being a Cupid… or Cupid looking like his best friend had already sunk into his mind along with her… well, he wasn't sure if he could put a word on this girl.___

_He turned back and took a step closer to the idle standing mannequin. Thousands of thoughts were running through his mind although he knew he had to do it. What he wondered about the most was, was this really going to work? Could his mannequin be actually his true love? That's when it hit him.___

_He had always felt close to that mannequin of all. When it was allotted to him by his boss back when he had worked as an assistant, touching it for a brief moment then and there, he had gotten a weird feeling that it was indeed going to change his life. And it surely did help making him so successful throughout the fashion world and now it was doing it again … it was there, ready to change his life, once again.___

_Hesitantly and slowly he started to lean in as he pushed away the thought that kept telling him that this wasn't going to work. At first, as his lips met the statue, he got nothing back expect a pair of cold stoned lips. But something changed and his heart started to beat erratically as his lips could feel the stone getting softer by every second that passed. Suddenly, he felt a pressure and pulled back, only to be hypnotized by a pair of chocolate brown eyes that were staring back at him, with love shining in them. Slowly, though seemingly afraid of breaking the spell they had both fallen under, Noah lifted his hands to cup the man's face and …___

_Slowly.___

_So slowly.___

_So inevitably.___

_Their faces came closer.___

_And they kissed once again._

*

Noah's head was spinning as he was brought back to reality, as he stood in the middle of his living room. "That really wasn't a dream, was it?"

Maddie shook her head. "No it wasn't… Now, get your cute butt in there and kiss him senseless. I'm giving you 24 hours with him, until the spell ends and he'll forget everything that happened. What happens after that is completely up to you. I'm just here to give you a push, that's all…"

"What about…" Noah began but was quickly interrupted by Maddie.

"I called you in sick, hopefully they managed to get the messages… um … I think" She blushed whe

n she saw him smirking. "Stop looking at me like that. I'm cupid for god's sake… A Cupid, not an assistant, so sue me for not knowing how to call you in sick…"

Noah held his hands up looking at her pouting face. "I'm not saying a word."

"Now go!" She nodded towards the closed bedroom door. "Oh and Noah, I will be here for you to help. Whatever you wish will be my command... but still I am not your assistant…" she reminded and continued, "and hence whatever you wish for your love from the bottom of your heart, I will grant it as quick as lightning."

And with that, she disappeared into the air saying her last words, "Have fun!"


End file.
